If You Are New to Reef Central, Introduce Yourself Here!

[coralsurfer]

Good evening, I'm coralsurfer (not one of my better screen names, but I can't change it now, dangit anyway. Lol).
I have 3 years expereince and unknown hours and hours of reading and researching. I have learned quickly that I may never really know everything but I do know enough to be dangerous and to help out new aquarists with there systems, and if I can't, I know someone here can or I can link them to the information.
I dislike critisism and over all rudeness, which may be why I left another forum.
I am a member of our local reef club, I like to do things outside of the box, and believe all tanks are not created equally. What I mean by this is, what works for one system may not work in others (I am proof of this).
I love to surf, beach combing, and staring at my tank for many hours with a magnifying glass with a beer and my wife and dog. Livin the dream.
I have a 56 gallon mixed reef and I run the Wave Point T-5 HO lights. I hope to learn more about lighting and the LED's. I am also VERY interested in water chemistry, so I will soon be hunting for this thread. Hopefuly there is someone who can speak in lamen turms, Lol!
I, uhm sorry..., we, my wife and I, have four SW tanks, her 125 and my 56, a 30 gallon QT for fish and a 29 gallon for corals.
I look forward to meeting as many people as possible and hope to make some friends in the process.

 

[jester1343]

hi i am new to all this and wanted to know what is the best tank size too get and should i try and get a tank with a all the bits with it and do you know of where i can get a good tank from not looking to pay more than a 1000 but well if it is a nice tank thank you oh my name is paul

 

[pHish6_8]

Hello From Denver!

Hello From Denver!

Greetings from the Mile High City!
My Name is Steve, and have had an off/on relationship with all things aquaristic (is that a word?):hmm1:for around 15 yrs...
I just joined this forum, and am looking forward to picking all of your brains...

I'm planning on moving into a new place w/ a dedicated fish room in a few years, but to start getting back into this, I'm thinking about starting w/ a 30-50g mixed reef, mainly fish, some hardy corals/ inverts, live rock...

I've been out of the hobby just long enough to realize there have been some amazing advancements in the industry, and am trying to wrap my feeble head:crazy1: around what is good, trendy, or truly an innovation.

As my knowledge returns, hopefully so will my ability to help out others, there has to be someone out there who knows a bit less than me? Maybe? LOL

-Steve...

 

[EricSIny]

^bot

 

[Runkle]

Hello

Hello

Hello RC. my name is Runkle. I have been into fish tanks for years but it has always been fresh water. I just bought a 90 gal tank and I'm planing on creating a reef tank. Nice to meet yall

 

[BlueCuttlefish]

Question about resilience of live rock tank

Question about resilience of live rock tank

Hello. I've kept freshwater fishtanks for 50 years(!) and would like to convert my 45 high to a live rock tank. But first, I need to find out which, if any, set of sea critters are the most tolerant of fluctuations in water temperature and water quality. I tried keeping salt water fish in this same tank about a decade ago, but failed miserably even though I filtered the tap water and had a protein skimmer, biological filter, etc., so I'm hoping that perhaps keeping live rock is potentially more forgiving.

This time around, I will use only distilled water, or perhaps buy an RO.

If the wise and seasoned folks on this site can help me gather information about the most resilient live rock and associated critters, I would be most grateful. Thank you.

 

[ATLJonathan]

Look at "Real Reef™ bio active aqua cultured liverock" http://www.aquacon.com/RealReefLiveRock.html

1. it is live rock but won't have pests.
2. it is man made so it is saving the reel reefs in the ocean.
3. It is already purple so you don't have to work at growing coraline algae.

 

[ATLJonathan]

New To Marine Aquariums

New To Marine Aquariums

I am brand new to aquariums. Two tanks and sump room will be installed next week, a rectangular 225g and a square 240g.

I have absolutely no fish and no coral. I'll have 465 gallons of marine aquarium with only live rock. Need to figure out a plan for coral, any suggestions? If everyone in the Reel Reef community sends me one coral that would give me a good start and really make me feel welcome, just don't send them all on the same day! LOL

I promise to frag all of it after it grows and do the same for all the other new members!

I've read so many posts and viewed so many You-Tube videos I don't know what to think. My 240g might be an anenome tank, and my 225g might be a mixed reef with no anenomes (unless one gets through the SUMP and pumped into the other tank!).

 

[Aiserock]

Hi,

I'm getting back into the aquarium hobby after a 5 year break. My name is Anthony and I live in Columbus, Ohio.

Looking forward to learning all I can here.

 

[IridescentLily]

[welcome]

 

[jerseytankgirl]

hello. i'm new (sort of). joined back in 2005 or 2007, but life got in the way. anyway, finally (after 7 years) had our 72gal tank set up last week. 60lb live rock and live sand (i think). anyway, my first question is this...(not that i can use it now) back in 2007, i found some of the mythical Southdown sand at our local Home Depot and i think i bought about 5 bags of it. if i remember correctly (and i could be wrong), they are still sitting on the floor of our garage somewhere. can this still be used after so long? will i eventually need to replace the sand that is in our new tank now (it has a lot of shells in it - not what i thought live sand would actually look like). should i just give it away to a friend who has a sandbox?

 

[78mermaids]

Hi Everyone !! I'm new here !!! I've been in the saltwater hobby about 3 1/2 yrs. I decided to join because everytime I have a question I find myself at this forum searching for answers. I've had aquariums my entire life but 3 1/2 yrs ago I decided to go salty and now I'm hooked !!

 

[brad87us]

Hello Everyone. My name is Brad and I am currently living in the Tampa area. My current setup is a 46 gallon bowfront FOWLR which I've had for about a year. Although, I am looking to upgrade to a 100-150 gallon reef tank here in the near future. So I've spent all my free time researching the different reef setups and trying to find the best one for me. I am going to try to make a thread for the setup of the new tank for anyone also in the process of upgrading.

 

[Herstead]

Hi, my wife and I are new to the hobby and trying to do all the research we can before buying anything but books. As far as I have read this is my favorite forum.

We are planning to build our own tank and skimmer and will probably post a build thread when we start. We are currently considering around 6' long and 200-240g so we can have tangs a mandarin and others with coral (already know we can't have a hippo at the length we want) and we don't want to be constantly upgrading.

We will definitely be using the fish compatibility thread in the near future as finding out you want a larger or smaller tank is easier before you order parts to build.

If anyone knows dealers in Canada that ship real live sand, I would appreciate a link as I am having trouble finding any.

- Herstead (my wife may also end up posting)

 

[bertok]

Hey I'm Bertok i just started a 45 gal FOWLR starting small working my way up to bigger eguip as i go. I'm in the Batavia ny. area. still working on my cycle for now. Can't seem to read enough info lol thats how i found this awsome fourm.

 

[keithhays]

Long Time Lurker

Long Time Lurker

I am not new to Reef Central, but I have never introduced myself. My name is Keith and I am 43. I have had aquariums my whole life and saltwater tanks for the last 6 years or so. I have gained an lot of knowledge on Reef Central particularly from Randy since I tend to me drawn to the chemisty aspects. I also tend to follow Sanjay on Michigan Reefs. Whenever possible I try to pass on factual information I learn from them and others to new reefers. I am currently setting up a new 300 Gallon (actual water in system) system made of all the stuff below all plumbed together as one system. Thanks to all who keep the site going.
Keith

My system:
While this system is newly setup, I have been working on getting water into it for 3 years and finally it is cycling.

I am beginning to document in video here:“AQUAC EV-400 with Iwaki 55 RLT” — This video is my secondary sump that houses my AQUAC EV-400 Protein Skimmer along with my manifold and pumps.

I will add pics later on a different forum at Reef Central as I have never figured out how to add video. :facepalm:

Newest 300 Gallon System:
two 135-Gallon (6ftx2ft) OCEA tanks in Stacked Cherry Single Stand, ReefKeeper Elite,
Reef Creations Custom BIO-Media Sump with 225 Gallon Live Rock Equivelent Media,
Glass Secondary Sump for EV400,
return (Reeflo Hybrid-Dart),
AQUAC EV-400 w/Iwaki 55rlt,
2-500W Titanium Heaters-JBJ,
BRS 6 stage RODI,
3 Sunlight Supply Lumen Max 3(250w),
3 Lumatek DIMMABLE 250W/400W Ballasts,
3-10k 250W Ushio Bulbs,
(haven't decided on lights for 2nd tank yet),
4-KORALIA MAGNUM 7 - 2,700 gph (2 per tank),
Multiple BRS GFO/Carbon/ETC Reactors,
112 pounds Dry Pukani in 10-12 pound size,
1 BRS top-off pump for topping off,
2 BRS top-off pumps for saltwater exchange,
2-65 Gallon Plastic tanks for saltwater Exchange and RODI,...

Existing Tanks
29 Gallon FOWLR
55 Gallon Soft Coral

 

[salvajero]

New to the hobbie but totally hooked

New to the hobbie but totally hooked

Hello RC, my name is jero and I recently purchased a 75 gallon tank aqueon pro flex sump refugium model 4, along with two koralia 1400 pumps with timer, sand, and heater.. I am really taking my time and trying to learn as much as possible while I set everything up. Unfortunatly I live in a very small town with no lfs, with the closet one and hour and a half away. Of course when I stop by there they just try to get me to by everything all at once. Thats not the way I want to go about this set up, I really want to make sure I am getting the right stuff. I have been learning a lot this past month but it seems like the more I learn the more I find out I dont know anything. My next big purchase is going to be the lighting, I know I want to go with leds, but I am so confused. I have been reaserching all over the net, but I just feel overwhelmed. I figured I might as well buy the ecotech radion since I see a lot of people using them but thats going to be a 1500 dollar hit, then I look on craigs list and have a guy trying to sell me two 120 watt units brand new for 200 dollars a peice, claiming they work just as well.. Any help would be great.

 

[Clutch34]

What's going on everyone? My name is Ali and I just bought my roommates 29 gal Biocube. I'm hoping to get some bubble tip anemones and (eventually) start breeding clown fish. Nice to be here and I look forward to learning from all of you.

 

[Wasabijim]

Wow what a great forum. I'm new as of today. I've been looking into the Biocube or Nano-Cube and from what I've read across the net so far is that the Nano-Cubes seem to be the better choice. Now I have to decide if I should go with a 12 or 24 gallon. I want to create a living rock tank. Any advice anyone can give me would be great.

 

[CRAZYELEGANCE]

Lurking Reefer

Lurking Reefer

Hello all. Finally decided to stick a head up. Long time fish only kinda fan, converting to reef type here now. Gotta build in the make. Put some time into thinking about my space in space, and now the wants are growing to needs. In short, thanks for helping my mind find a place to learn of others successes and more on their misdoings. Gonna start a thread for the great 77.7g (24"x24"x31"x3/8") build out. What a mess of fun I'm neck deep to now.